Moonroof creaking / squeaking when going over uneven pavement - any ideas appreciated.

[RiotfunK]

Operating as designed, per Ford

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[gcbroncosport]

Here's another NEW buzzing, rattle. Sunroof related, will post solution later today when there's a bit more time

Ok, here's the issue... Sunroof buzzing/rattling occurs when the front rubber seal gets detached from the panel. Don't have pic of it detached, but below highlights the seal.

When sunroof is closed it presses down on that front seal. It is glued on the side, so sunroof pressing down basically has effect of ripping it away from the glue/panel.

About 1/3 of seal was detached by the time realized it was causing the buzzing sound (which btw would happen at about 35+ mph onwards).

For my BS maybe it was a bad batch of glue on the day of assembly?

Re-attached with super-glue (not sure how long that will hold up tho).

 

[hf995]

Hi All,

Took delivery on my 2022 Big Bed w/ moonroof this past Wednesday, before Thanksgiving, and from the dealer lot, embarked on a 100-mile drive to see family for the holiday. Almost immediately I started hearing a terrain related "creaking” rattle noise coming from the right-front of the moon roof. Over the course of that drive, and my return trip, I was able to definitively confirm and isolate the sound and location.

I decided to add a stop at the dealership to my return trip on Friday. Their mechanics confirmed the noise and, over the course of two hours, proceeded to cover every conceivable part of the moonroof in the bluish lubricant discussed previously in the thread. Besides making a total mess of my car, getting all over the windscreen, and taking two hours of my life sitting in the waiting room this did absolutely nothing to fix the problem. I understand the mechanics are not known for being delicate or subtle, but my goodness that was a lot of unnecessary garbage they drenched my new vehicle with!

After spending the better part of an hour wiping up as much of that crap as possible, and trying to clean the cloth of the windscreen, I embarked on finding a real fix… Using the previous discussions concerning the windscreen as a starting point, I was able to locate the source of, and correct, what was causing the noise for me….

I have no idea what the part is called (or what it does) but on both sides of the moonroof, close to the headliner, there is a small plastic tab that is seated up against some foam pads. I decided to add some extra cushion to that area by inserting a small section of 3/16th inch closed cell foam weather-stripping. The addition of the extra padding immediately eliminated the noise… Problem solved (for now).

Any idea what that tab does @Ford Motor Company ? Seem to me that if, off the factory line, it already needs to be dampened with foam, why not just cup that tab off enterally!

I will add that, in the last of the drives I conduced to diagnose and try out these fixes, a friendly pickup in front of me spit out hefty stone that struck my windshield and left me with a gorgeous chip! No better way to celebrate fixing this rattle then to have your windshield damaged…. Could not even make it one week!

I’ve included some photos below of the left side (without the fix) and right side with my foam applied to illustrate my fix.

Right Side With Extra Foam Fix:

Left Side Without Fix:

Hope someone finds this helpful...

Cheers!

 

[t1da]

Thanks @gcbroncosport for posting this. My 2022 BS Badlands has been in the shop now for 6 weeks with the same rattle noise coming from the sunroof. Bought it in April 2022.
I wish I saw this post prior, so I might mention this to them as to what we can do to fix it. What seems to silence the rattle in my case is putting some pressure on the plastic piece that runs from the driver to passenger side. You can see it in the first pic posted just to the left of the red circle.

The dealer first put some additional foam which they said was 'missing' from the blow out part diagram. They then got approved to replace the sunroof track by Ford engineering, but issue remains.
The dealer continues to get no response from Ford Engineering for next steps a week later. Seems @Ford Motor Company has no idea how to fix this, or provide direction to dealerships to resolve. I'd think with so many others having this they'd have a permanent fix by now. I'll post updates on a fix when that day comes....losing hope here.

 

[Palom0]

Hi All,

Took delivery on my 2022 Big Bed w/ moonroof this past Wednesday, before Thanksgiving, and from the dealer lot, embarked on a 100-mile drive to see family for the holiday. Almost immediately I started hearing a terrain related "creaking” rattle noise coming from the right-front of the moon roof. Over the course of that drive, and my return trip, I was able to definitively confirm and isolate the sound and location.

I decided to add a stop at the dealership to my return trip on Friday. Their mechanics confirmed the noise and, over the course of two hours, proceeded to cover every conceivable part of the moonroof in the bluish lubricant discussed previously in the thread. Besides making a total mess of my car, getting all over the windscreen, and taking two hours of my life sitting in the waiting room this did absolutely nothing to fix the problem. I understand the mechanics are not known for being delicate or subtle, but my goodness that was a lot of unnecessary garbage they drenched my new vehicle with!

After spending the better part of an hour wiping up as much of that crap as possible, and trying to clean the cloth of the windscreen, I embarked on finding a real fix… Using the previous discussions concerning the windscreen as a starting point, I was able to locate the source of, and correct, what was causing the noise for me….

I have no idea what the part is called (or what it does) but on both sides of the moonroof, close to the headliner, there is a small plastic tab that is seated up against some foam pads. I decided to add some extra cushion to that area by inserting a small section of 3/16th inch closed cell foam weather-stripping. The addition of the extra padding immediately eliminated the noise… Problem solved (for now).

Any idea what that tab does @Ford Motor Company ? Seem to me that if, off the factory line, it already needs to be dampened with foam, why not just cup that tab off enterally!

I will add that, in the last of the drives I conduced to diagnose and try out these fixes, a friendly pickup in front of me spit out hefty stone that struck my windshield and left me with a gorgeous chip! No better way to celebrate fixing this rattle then to have your windshield damaged…. Could not even make it one week!

I’ve included some photos below of the left side (without the fix) and right side with my foam applied to illustrate my fix.

Right Side With Extra Foam Fix:

Left Side Without Fix:

Hope someone finds this helpful...

Cheers!

Awesome hf995!!!. This noise's been driving me crazy for 6 months to the point I don't drive with the sunroof curtain open ever to avoid it.
I just did what you described and, so far, the noise is gone. A really easy fix.
I'll watch it for a week and then I'll let my dealer know about it so they can replicate it for other customers. They had no idea how to.
Hopefully Ford will address such a simple problem.

Well, I guess now on to finding how to kill that humming resonance noise on my front doors while listening to bass music.


Thanks,
Jose

 

[hf995]

@Palom0 I so thrilled to hear this “fix” is helping others address this maddening issue. I will say that after about a week, the extra foam compressed sufficiently noise came back a little. I assume this is because the foam I used was relatively light duty with a lot of sponginess.

A quick re-fix was just to move the weatherstripping over a touch and reseat it in a new non-compressed area.

For longer-term fix I imagine using a denser foam, or even a neoprene type rubber, would do the tick and not compress too much over time.

 

[Palom0]

@Palom0 I so thrilled to hear this “fix” is helping others address this maddening issue. I will say that after about a week, the extra foam compressed sufficiently noise came back a little. I assume this is because the foam I used was relatively light duty with a lot of sponginess.

A quick re-fix was just to move the weatherstripping over a touch and reseat it in a new non-compressed area.

For longer-term fix I imagine using a denser foam, or even a neoprene type rubber, would do the tick and not compress too much over time.

Yes, I already thought that would happen. The plastic lip that rests on the foam is very thin so I am expecting it to cut into I over timet. I was thinking about using one of those aluminum foil-backed adhesive foam tapes to counter the sharp lip cutting into it. A denser foam may also address the issue. But the important thing is that the noise source is already identified!

 

[TheSportyHorse]

An update:

I took my bronco sport to the dealer and they managed to readjust the glass and add a ton of foam around the frame opening to get rid of the noise. So far so good, but this was about 3 weeks ago so time will tell.

However, Ford just released a SSM today about this exact issue. The likely cause may actually be due to the frame opening bolts not being properly secured:

So if you are still experiencing this problem, it may be worth going back to dealer now that the root cause might be identified.

Be forewarned: the procedure to get to the bolts requires the entire headliner to be removed, which is time consuming. Your dealer may need to keep your bronco for a few days.

 

[t1da]

An update:

I took my bronco sport to the dealer and they managed to readjust the glass and add a ton of foam around the frame opening to get rid of the noise. So far so good, but this was about 3 weeks ago so time will tell.

However, Ford just released a SSM today about this exact issue. The likely cause may actually be due to the frame opening bolts not being properly secured:

So if you are still experiencing this problem, it may be worth going back to dealer now that the root cause might be identified.

Be forewarned: the procedure to get to the bolts requires the entire headliner to be removed, which is time consuming. Your dealer may need to keep your bronco for a few days.

That's really interesting- thanks for sharing. Where did you find that image snippit?

My 2022 Badlands is still at the dealer for this similar noise. Dealer has recently replaced some clips and previously the sunroof rails, which didn't fix the problem.

As I understand it they are working on some issues now getting the sunroof to close (initialization/programming) after clip replacement, but assuming this is the same issue I experienced I'd like to share this with them--maybe this was an easier fix to begin with.

 

[TheSportyHorse]

That's really interesting- thanks for sharing. Where did you find that image snippit?

My 2022 Badlands is still at the dealer for this similar noise. Dealer has recently replaced some clips and previously the sunroof rails, which didn't fix the problem.

As I understand it they are working on some issues now getting the sunroof to close (initialization/programming) after clip replacement, but assuming this is the same issue I experienced I'd like to share this with them--maybe this was an easier fix to begin with.

The snippit comes direct from PTS, Ford's official site for communicating repair procedures, diagnostic info etc. Your dealer should have received it and it will show it up when they look at service bulletins for your VIN. It wouldn't hurt though to mention the SSM # since it was just released.

 

[t1da]

The snippit comes direct from PTS, Ford's official site for communicating repair procedures, diagnostic info etc. Your dealer should have received it and it will show it up when they look at service bulletins for your VIN. It wouldn't hurt though to mention the SSM # since it was just released.

You are awesome! I called my dealer and they are on it now and validated that it's the exact problem I've been experiencing! I'm sure this will help many others too!

 

[SLarkin]

I don’t have an issue with a moonroof because mine doesn’t have one but I have noticed since it has gotten colder that my windshield has started creaking. Does anyone else have this issue?

 

[t1da]

No windshield noises on my vehicle @SLarkin

I did receive my car back from the dealer to fix the initial issue, and although it was "fixed" the terrain related noises that @hf995 mentioned are still heard. I did put in foam as suggested and will see if that helps this week.

While driving if I did press down or hold that area it seemed to help, so we'll see.

 

[Hatter]

My 2022 Broncho sport is at dealer today for moonroof noise. They have attempted to try the SSM 51826 fix. Hope it helps but I believe a big part of the problem is the continued detachment of the moonroof seal that I brought to their attention when I dropped it off at my local dealer. 2/3 of the seal is unattached at this point and it gets pinched when the sunroof is closed.

They told my husband that seal is on backorder. Waiting to find out what the next potential solution will be since they still have my vehicle after working on it all day today.

Has anyone had their moonroof seal replaced or repaired at a dealer?

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